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Shevat 13, 5762 /
Jan 26, 2002
See Y1-44x
Shevat 19,
5765 / Jan 29, 2005
Shevat 19,
5768 / Jan 26, 2008
Shevat 19,
5771 / Jan 22, 2011
Shevat 17,
5774 / Jan 18, 2014
Divided for two weeks for
leap year
See Y1-44x
Shivtey Yisrael
/
The Tribes of Israel
SCRIPTURES should be read first
Genesis:
Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob,
were all buried in the same cave in Canaan – in the field of Machpelah. Joseph
was buried temporarily in Egypt, to be carried to Canaan when his family was
restored to the Promised Land.
Jacob died at 147, in the year AM 2255. Joseph
died at 110, in the year 2309. Joseph lived 54 years after his father died. This
is the time period covered in this Torah portion. The restoration to Canaan
would be 179 years later – 400 years after the birth of Isaac. [For explanation
see Sequence of Events in the Old Testament by Eliezer Shulman, page 61.]
Zechariah:
“A day for Yahweh” (v.1) is different
wording than “the Day of Yahweh” (Isaiah 13:6, Joel 1:15, etc.) but may
refer to the same time. It may be noted that “the Day of Yahweh” (the
Day of the Lord or the Lord’s Day) has always meant the Sabbath to
Hebrews – both the weekly Sabbath and the Millennial Sabbath. When John said
that he was “in the spirit on the Lord’s Day” (Revelation 1:10), he had
never heard of that term meaning Sunday.
Here we find some details about the final return
of God’s people to Canaan. The times are what we call the tribulation time and
the thousand-year reign of Messiah – the Sabbath Millennium.
In the future, there will be a seven-year period
that will end with much of this world’s people being killed (Revelation 6-9).
Then Yeshua will reign on this earth for a thousand years. Afterwards, the earth
will be renewed by fire, and Eden / Paradise will be restored on the earth.
We need to know about these things, because this
is our God-given preparation time for that Great Sabbath!
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Let us consider the heritage of Jacob.
“If because of the Sabbath, you turn
your foot from doing your own pleasure on My Holy Day, and call the Sabbath a
delight, the Holy Day of Yahweh honorable, and honor it, desisting from your own
ways, from seeking your own pleasure and speaking your own word, then you will
take delight in Yahweh, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of
Yahweh has spoken” – Isaiah 58:13-14.
Today, many people find the Sabbath “happening”
while they are doing their own thing in life. It may come upon them while they
are still busy with their usual endeavors. They may make some effort to attend a
Sabbath service. They may use the day to rest-up from a week of over-working.
But those who take God’s Word seriously use the
week to prepare for the anticipated Sabbath. A while before sundown on Friday,
they stop other endeavors to make final preparations for the Holy Day. The
“Lord’s Day” does not catch them unawares. This is the day to set aside our
mundane work in order to focus on the worship of our creator, including taking
part in a public worship service. Necessary work, such as food preparation, is
minimized by preparing ahead.
“But be sure of this, that if the head
of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would
have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.
For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour
when you do not think He will. Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom
his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper
time? Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. Truly
I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.” –
Matthew 24:43-47.
So it is with the coming Great Sabbath. Many
people will find Yeshua returning while they are doing their own thing in life.
They may occasionally take time out to worship God. They may look forward to a
rest from their troubles of this life.
But those who are truly looking forward to
dwelling with Messiah in righteousness use this time to prepare for the coming
millennium – which will, for them, extend to eternity. This is the time to
“overcome,” the time to “grow in grace and knowledge.” This is the time to
“store up treasures” for eternity.
“To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of
the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God” – Revelation 2:7.
“You therefore, beloved, knowing this
beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of
unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and
knowledge of our Lord and Savior Yeshua the Messiah. To Him be the glory, both
now and to the day of eternity. Amen” – 2 Peter 3:17-18.
“But store up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in
or steal, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” –
Matthew 6:20-21.
(V.1) “Behold, a day is coming for Yahweh when
the spoil taken from you will be divided among you.” The enemy is stealing
from us – believers – every day. But God is going to restore everything to us.
We will soon be studying the Passover in Egypt: then we will see the prophetic
example, how that what was stolen from Israel by the Egyptians was returned upon
their leaving Egypt, and Israel “plundered” the Egyptians who had kept them in
slavery (Exodus 12:36).
(V.3) On Erev Shabbat – that is just preceding
the Sabbath millennium – the last fires of the week will be lit. Yahweh will go
forth and fight the nations.
(V.4-5) Yeshua, coming in the Name of Yahweh,
will set His feet on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem from the east.
The mountain will split, and a valley created for Israel to flee east. The
valley will stretch to the tenth mountain, which going east, is Mount Azazel,
where the “scapegoat” was cast over on Yom haKippurim / the Day of the
Atonements. Looking down to the south from Mount Azazel, one sees the Dead Sea,
which was annually the Lake of Fire.
(V.9) Then Yeshua, in the Name of Yahweh, will
become King over All the Earth.
Those who fought against Jerusalem will
experience a hideous curse (v.12). The remainder of gentiles will be required to
go up annually to Jerusalem for Hag Sukkot / the Feast of Tabernacles, or they
will be under a curse (v.17).
(V.20) In that day, Jerusalem will experience
true holiness.
John 19-20:
Yeshua was offered for sin, and
buried on the Preparation Day for the Passover – Wednesday before sunset. Three
days and three nights later, fulfilling Jonah’s prophecy (Matthew 12:40) and
Yeshua’s parable (Matthew 12:11), He was raised and left a sealed tomb at the
end of a weekly Sabbath.
Before Queen Easter, the Sun Goddess,
rose in the morning – before sunrise, some followers came to the tomb, and He
was gone. “For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must
rise again from the dead” – (v.9). Likewise, people today generally do not
understand the Scripture.
On the third day – three millenniums
after the Holy Temple was destroyed, Yeshua will raise it up! It was destroyed
at the end of the fourth millennium, so we may expect the Sabbath Millennium to
begin soon, with the eternal Temple to follow on a renewed earth. The Holy
Temple represents Yeshua (John 2:19, Revelation 21:22). It was destroyed for
failure to represent Him – those who “ministered” there denied Yeshua.
In today’s Torah portion, we see the
burials of both Jacob and Joseph. In the Apostolic portion, we see the burial of
Yeshua. Then, as Jacob said, “Gather together and hear, O sons of Jacob; and
listen to Israel your father”, so after Yeshua was raised, he said to Peter,
“Follow Me!”
Our congregation is named “Followers
of the Messiah”, and we are to gather to learn Torah, and we are to follow
Yeshua.
Readings:
"Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King
of the Universe,
Who chose us from among all peoples by
giving us Your Torah.
Blessed are You, Yahweh, giver of the
Torah."
Cal-elleh
Shivtey Yisrael –
sh’neyim asar
/ All
these are the Tribes of Israel - twelve.
Reader 1* Amen.
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what
their father said to them when he blessed them. He blessed them, every one with
the blessing appropriate to him. 29 Then he charged them and said to
them, "I am about to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the
cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the cave that
is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan,
which Abraham bought along with the field from Ephron the Hittite for a burial
site. 31 "There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah, there they
buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and there I buried Leah-- 32 the
field and the cave that is in it, purchased from the sons of Heth." 33
When Jacob finished charging his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and
breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.
Reader 2* Amen.
50:1 Then Joseph fell on his father's face, and wept over him
and kissed him. 2 Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to
embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. 3 Now forty
days were required for it, for such is the period required for embalming. And
the Egyptians wept for him seventy days. 4 When the days of mourning
for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, "If now I
have found favor in your sight, please speak to Pharaoh, saying, 5
'My father made me swear, saying, "Behold, I am about to die; in my grave which
I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me." Now therefore,
please let me go up and bury my father; then I will return.'"
Reader 3* Amen.
6 Pharaoh said, "Go up and bury your father, as he made you
swear." 7 So Joseph went up to bury his father, and with him went up
all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household and all the elders of
the land of Egypt, 8 and all the household of Joseph and his brothers
and his father's household; they left only their little ones and their flocks
and their herds in the land of Goshen. 9 There also went up with him
both chariots and horsemen; and it was a very great company.
Reader 4* Amen.
10 When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is
beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great and sorrowful
lamentation; and he observed seven days mourning for his father. 11
Now when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the
threshing floor of Atad, they said, "This is a grievous mourning for the
Egyptians." Therefore it was named Abel-mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.
12 Thus his sons did for him as he had charged them; 13
for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the
field of Machpelah before Mamre, which Abraham had bought along with the field
for a burial site from Ephron the Hittite.
Reader 5* Amen.
14 After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt,
he and his brothers, and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.
15 When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "What
if Joseph bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong
which we did to him!" 16 So they sent a message to Joseph, saying,
"Your father charged before he died, saying, 17 'Thus you shall say
to Joseph, "Please forgive, I beg you, the transgression of your brothers and
their sin, for they did you wrong."' And now, please forgive the transgression
of the servants of the God of your father." And Joseph wept when they spoke to
him.
Reader 6* Amen.
18 Then his brothers also came and fell down before him and
said, "Behold, we are your servants." 19 But Joseph said to them, "Do
not be afraid, for am I in God's place? 20 "As for you, you meant
evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present
result, to preserve many people alive. 21 "So therefore, do not be
afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones." So he comforted them and
spoke kindly to them.
Reader 7* Amen.
22 Now Joseph stayed in Egypt, he and his father's household,
and Joseph lived one hundred and ten years. 23 Joseph saw the third
generation of Ephraim's sons; also the sons of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were
born on Joseph's knees. 24 Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about
to die, but God will surely take care of you and bring you up from this land to
the land which He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob." 25
Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, "God will surely take care of
you, and you shall carry my bones up from here." 26 So Joseph died at
the age of one hundred and ten years; and he was embalmed and placed in a coffin
in Egypt.
"Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King
of the Universe,
Who in giving us Yeshua, the Living
Torah, has planted everlasting life in our midst.
Blessed are You, Yahweh, giver of the
Torah."
______________________
"Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King
of the Universe,
Who selected good prophets, delighting
in their words which were spoken truthfully.
Blessed are You, Yahweh, Who chose the
Torah, Your servant Moses, Your people Israel,
and the prophets of truth and
righteousness."
Zechariah 14:1-21
Reader 8* Amen.
1 Behold, a day is coming for Yahweh when the spoil taken from
you will be divided among you. 2 For I will gather all the nations
against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses
plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the
people will not be cut off from the city. 3 Then Yahweh will go forth
and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. 4
In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of
Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from
east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move
toward the north and the other half toward the south. 5 You will flee
by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to
Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of
Uzziah king of Judah. Then Yahweh, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with
Him! 6 In that day there will be no light; the luminaries will
dwindle.
Reader 9* Amen.
7 For it will be a unique day which is known to Yahweh,
neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be
light. 8 And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem,
half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea;
it will be in summer as well as in winter. 9 And Yahweh will be king
over all the earth; in that day Yahweh will be the only one, and His name the
only one. 10 All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to
Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from
Benjamin's Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and
from the Tower of Hananel to the king's wine presses. 11 People will
live in it, and there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in
security.
Reader 10* Amen.
12 Now this will be the plague with which Yahweh will strike
all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot
while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and
their tongue will rot in their mouth. 13 It will come about in that
day that a great panic from Yahweh will fall on them; and they will seize one
another's hand, and the hand of one will be lifted against the hand of another.
14 Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the
surrounding nations will be gathered, gold and silver and garments in great
abundance. 15 So also like this plague will be the plague on the
horse, the mule, the camel, the donkey and all the cattle that will be in those
camps.
Reader 11* Amen.
16 Then it will come about that any who are left of all the
nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the
King, Yahweh of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 17 And
it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to
Jerusalem to worship the King, Yahweh of hosts, there will be no rain on them.
18 If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will
fall on them; it will be the plague with which Yahweh smites the nations who do
not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 19 This will be the
punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to
celebrate the Feast of Booths. 20 In that day there will be inscribed
on the bells of the horses, "Holy to Yahweh." And the cooking pots in Yahweh's
house will be like the bowls before the altar. 21 Every cooking pot
in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to Yahweh of hosts; and all who sacrifice
will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a
Canaanite in the house of Yahweh of hosts in that day.
Micah 2:12
Reader 12* Amen.
12 "I will surely assemble all of you, Jacob, I will surely gather
the remnant of Israel. I will put them together like sheep in the fold; like a
flock in the midst of its pasture they will be noisy with men.
[No
Psalm]
John 19:39 – 20:9
Reader 13* Amen.
39 Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came,
bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. 40
So they took the body of Yeshua and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices,
as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now in the place where He was
crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had
yet been laid. 42 Therefore because of the Jewish day of preparation,
since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
Reader 14* Amen.
20:1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came
early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away
from the tomb. 2 So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other
disciple whom Yeshua loved, and said to them, "They have taken away the Lord out
of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him." 3 So Peter
and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb. 4
The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than
Peter and came to the tomb first; 5 and stooping and looking in, he
saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in. 6 And so
Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen
wrappings lying there, 7 and the face-cloth which had been on His
head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself.
8 So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also
entered, and he saw and believed. 9 For as yet they did not
understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.
"Blessed are You, Yahweh
our God, King of the Universe,
Rock of Ages, righteous
throughout all generations.
You are the faithful God,
promising and then performing, speaking and then fulfilling,
for all Your words are true
and righteous.
Faithful are You, Yahweh
our God, and faithful are Your words,
for no word of Yours shall
remain unfulfilled;
You are a faithful and
merciful God and King.
Blessed are You, Yahweh our
God, Who are faithful in fulfilling all Your words."
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